A Darned Fool
by sing-oldsongs
Summary: Everyone wants Chekov, if only he knew how much. A 5 plus 1 for st xi kink. McCoyxChekov, onesided othersxChekov.


A/N: Originally written for the st_xi_kink meme on livejournal: "5 times someone hit on Chekov and he didn't get what was happening and the one time it was obvious and welcomed. (the one being McCoy)."

McCoy/Chekov, one-sided others/Chekov. Apologies for any mistakes in my Russian or in Chekov's accent, and apologies that Scotty has no accent. I tried to write it and it came out silly.

**x**

1. Captain Kirk

The Captain is sitting awfully close, Pavel's thinking. The bar is crowded and noisy, full of all the regulars plus all the Enterprise crew down on shore leave, but still, the Captain's sitting so close now that Pavel can hear every quiet, whispered word he utters. It's not like the Captain to be quite this—well, close. (Like the way his hand is exactly one centimeter from Pavel's; this is very distracting.) Also he is saying things like:

"You are quite an intelligent young man, Pavel Chekov. I find that to be an attractive trait in a person."

Pavel is so flustered he forgets English for a moment. "Вы очень симпатичный. Спасибо."

The Captain laughs a little and then smiles at him, in a soft sort of way, and tilts his head a little to the side and down, trying to catch Pavel's eye. The gesture is confusing because it makes it seem like he's embarrassed, and Pavel is the one who should be embarrassed.

"If you want to continue this conversation in Russian, you're going to have to help me out, Ensign. What did you say back there?"

Pavel swallows heavily, and then he has to cough, and the Captain is still staring at him, which is very unusual.

"I said you were very nice, and t'ank you."

"And if I wanted to tell you that you were handsome, how would I do that?"

"Oh," Pavel says. "Um, you vould say—Вы красивыи."

"Vih kraceevee," the Captain repeats, in a surprisingly passable accent. Pavel is impressed and says so.

"I find languages very difficult," he adds. "Ships I can talk to, but people, I am not so good, you know? Also zere are sounds in English zat I still find difficult to pronounce. My tongue will just not make zese sounds."

"Oh, no," the Captain answers, and puts his hand reassuringly on Pavel's arm. "You exaggerate. I'm sure you have a very talented tongue, if you understand what I mean."

But Pavel is afraid to say, no, he really doesn't understand at all.

**x**

2. Hikaru

"Did you hear about the Captain?"

Hikaru has been teaching Pavel how to fence, which is most exciting if…sweaty work, and Pavel is a bit self-conscious because Hikaru has been spending a lot of time staring at his bare chest and he's beginning to wonder if maybe he is gaining weight. Also it is quite possible that he has pulled a muscle in his back. He twists around, trying to unkink it, as he answers, "Somet'ing has happened to ze Keptin? I did t'ink zat he was vas acting strangely last night—"

"Oh, yeah," Hikaru says, and passes his towel across his own chest in a slow and…unusual way. "He was bitten by some weird praying mantis thing. McCoy hauled him off to sick bay this morning. Hey—are you okay?"

"Vat—oh. It is not'ing. Just my back—"

"Here," Hikaru throws his towel down and comes to stand behind Pavel, right behind him, so Pavel can feel his breath.

It tickles.

"Anyway," Hikaru continues, as he starts to massage Pavel's back. The feel of his hands is startling and Pavel squeaks a little, and he and Hikaru both pretend he didn't. "Anyway, the rumor is that he had some allergic reaction and his…I don't know, his judgment, went sort of lax, I guess. Sounds like being drunk to me."

Pavel wants to ask if the Captain is okay, except that he's distracted by Hikaru's hands. How they are moving a bit low now…

"Um, actually, Hikaru," he starts breathlessly.

"Yes, Pavel?" Hikaru answers, whispering just in his left ear, his hands just at Pavel's hips.

"Could you just…"

"Yes?" That whisper a bit strained now…

"Ze kink is up by my shoulder, actually. Could you…move your hands zere maybe?"

**x**

3. Lieutenant Uhura

Pavel was surprised, but pleasantly so, when the Lieutenant came to sit with him in the mess hall. He had been meaning to ask her about a Russian translation of an Orion book he'd been reading. (The writing struck him as awkward, but as he could not read the original, he thought it might be simply a fault of the translation.) But something in her manner made his words catch. Usually so talkative and friendly to him, she'd been unusually quiet since she sat down.

"Is somet'ing bozering you, Lieutenant?" he asks, a bit nervous, after a long silence.

"Oh, no, nothing," she answers, and smiles at him reassuringly.

"Zat is…good," he tries to smile back. But soon the silence begins to bother him again so he brings up, against his better judgment, a topic he had promised himself (and several other crewmembers, including the Captain) that he would not mention. Breaking this promise makes him very nervous, but then, so does Lieutenant Uhura's foot moving up his ankle.

"I—I am very sorry to hear zat you and Mr. Spock have…um, fallen apart."

Uhura laughs a little at this, which is good, because he was afraid she would hit him. "Broken up—that's the expression you're looking for," she corrects him gently. "And no apologies necessary, really. It was a mutual decision. We both realized we had feelings for other people."

She says this quite calmly, and this is something that Pavel always liked about her, that she can be so cool about everything, and he would say something about this, except that he's distracted by her fingers, which have reached out and started to trail along his wrist.

"Did you—say you had feelings for—someone else?" he asks shakily, trying to pull his thoughts together.

"Yes. That's what I said."

"Oh." Well, he's thinking. Well, if this is true, then this is some of the best gossip on the ship. He wonders if Hikaru has heard. Perhaps he has—perhaps he even knows who the other man is. So Pavel, because he has always been curious by nature, excuses himself from the table at the earliest possible moment and heads off in search of Hikaru.

**x**

4. Pavel's Dance Partner at the Ambassador's Wedding

The girl, a native of the planet who didn't so much ask Pavel to dance as she pulled him away from the table where he'd been sitting with Mr. Scott and Dr. McCoy and discussing the complex ceremonies of the evening, is very pretty. She is also very friendly, and inquisitive, and, for the most part, polite. He does wish that she had given him a choice to decline her offer—that is, he wishes she had offered instead of dragged—because then he could have told her no. He could have explained that he does not know how to dance. He could have said that his Aunt Natasha had given him exactly one dance lesson before he convinced his mother to let him enlist in Starfleet early.

At the very least, Pavel wishes she would stop talking to him because it makes it very hard for him to keep count of the steps in his head.

"So you serve on a starship?" the pretty girl asks him.

"Um," Pavel answers. "Two, three, four, two, three, four, два, три, четыре… "Da. Yes. Sorry."

"Don't apologize, silly," she giggles, and hugs him closer, which upsets his counting completely, and he has to shuffle his feet around and start again. "I wish you'd stop closing your eyes so tight like that. Look up, look at me. Or do you not find me attractive?"

Pavel looks at her, as she wants. She is pouting, and, he thinks, she looked much prettier before. Still, he tells her that she is very attractive, just to be polite. She is pacified instantly and giggles again.

"So, what do you do on this starship?" she asks.

Pavel makes a high pitched noise like a small rodent. This is embarrassing but forgivable, because his dance partner has punctuated her question with a small pinch to his lower back.

He clears his throat and tries to sound gruff. "I am a navigator."

"A navigator on a starship! That is exciting! You must tell me all about your life in space! Maybe you could," and she lowers her gaze shyly. Pavel takes this as an opportunity to look down at his feet again. "Maybe you could even show me your quarters. Where you sleep?"

Pavel can see that his feet are all tangled up now and he's relieved when the song ends and he can slip away, back to the corner table with Mr. Scott and the Doctor.

**x**

5. Mr. Scott

"I don't know about you," Mr. Scott is saying, as he walks with Pavel down the corridor to their respective quarters, "but that wedding left much to be desired, if you ask me."

"Hmmmm," Pavel answers absently. It was a long night. Several people had insisted that he dance with them and now his feet hurt, and were there always this many hallways on the Enterprise?

"I mean," Mr. Scott continues, "I found the ceremonies themselves a bit long. And so many rituals! And not enough to drink, for all that, if you don't mind me saying."

"Oh, no, Mr. Scott," Pavel tries to assure him warmly. "I do not mind zat you state your opinions. Zat is somet'ing I like about you. You are very honest and straightforward."

He's not sure if maybe he said the wrong thing because Mr. Scott seems somewhat flustered, and it takes him a moment to regain composure. "Why, thank you, Ensign."

"Please, sir, call me Pavel. We are not on duty."

This is better, because now Mr. Scott is smiling, and seems at ease again. He even laughs a little as he says, "Only if you drop all this 'sir' and 'Mr.' stuff. "You are right, after all—this is our day off."

They have reached the door to Mr. Scott's quarters. Pavel lives in another section of the ship, farther on, but when he starts to continue on his way, he is stopped by a hand on his arm. "Something that I like about you, Pavel, is how…sweet…you are. Almost naïve. But I don't suppose you're really as naïve as you seem, are you?"

"No—no, I do not t'ink so, no," Pavel answers. Mr. Scott's hand is still on is arm. His eyes follow it as Mr. Scott moves to lean back against the wall, arms crossed against his chest.

"Hmmm," Mr. Scott murmurs, like he's approving of something, but Pavel doesn't know what. "You know, I've been thinking—it's early yet. Maybe you'd like to come in? We could continue that discussion we were having abut those trans-warp beaming figures Ambassador Spock gave me."

Pavel considers saying yes. He does want to continue that conversation. And Mr. Scott is smiling at him in a way that Pavel feels in his toes. He didn't even know that was possible. Still, he finds that he has his best discussions when he's properly awake and his feet don't hurt. He apologizes, twice, but Mr. Scott just smiles, and pats him on the back, and says maybe some other time.

**x**

1. Dr. McCoy

The Doctor has been staring at him for several seconds now, but it feels like much longer, and Pavel is beginning to wonder if he should have pretended it was too late to hold the turbo lift when he saw the other man striding down the hall just as the doors were closing. The staring is making him uncomfortable. He is trying to pretend he does not notice but he has taken his hands in and out of his pockets at least six times already.

Pavel starts to whistle.

"Don't whistle."

Pavel stops whistling.

One floor below where Pavel was going to step off, Dr. McCoy stops the turbo lift, startling Pavel into turning toward him properly for the first time, and asks, "Do you realize what you do to me?"

Please, please, please, Pavel pleads to himself, don't say um. He will think you are stupid if you say um.

"Um. No-no sir. I am not aware zat I have done anyt'ing to you. Sir."

Dr. McCoy makes a noise that is either a bemused grunt or a gruff laugh, and he rolls his eyes a little, which is a gesture that Pavel is familiar with because the Doctor often does such a thing when talking to the Captain, and also, sometimes, around Mr. Spock. Then the Doctor steps forward. And Pavel steps back, but the Doctor steps forward again, and then there is nowhere left to go because the turbo lift is not very big.

So now Pavel has bumped his back against the wall of the lift and Dr. McCoy has put one hand on the wall above Pavel's head, and he's staring at Pavel, kind of smiling a little. Pavel had a dream that started like this once. It ended with him locking himself in the bathroom and then having to show up to his shift fifteen minutes late.

Needless to say, it is difficult to follow orders when the Doctor says, "Look at me, Ensign."

Then Dr. McCoy's hand is on his chin, tilting it up gently, and Pavel forces himself to meet the Doctor's eyes. His heart is thumping wildly but it's not from fear. Dr. McCoy's face is open and honest, and Pavel sees, somehow, a tenderness there he's never seen before in anyone.

"It's not just me," Dr. McCoy continues. "But no one else has any luck. I thought they were just being too subtle—hard to believe Jim Kirk was ever subtle—but it was possible. Then I saw you at the Ambassador's wedding, that pretty girl all over you. And now I think maybe this naïve persona is just a façade. Maybe you know more than you let on."

Pavel swallows. He's trembling a little. Dr. McCoy's hand is still on his chin, now slowly moving up to curl around Pavel's cheek.

"Do you know what I'm doing now, Pavel?" Dr. McCoy whispers.

Pavel nods slowly into the Doctor's hand. "I vould have to be stupid not to," he answers. His voice comes out low and scratchy.

Dr. McCoy laughs that short, gruff laugh again, and then he whispers, "Then if you want me to stop you better say something fast," and then he pulls Pavel toward him and kisses him.

It is softer than Pavel imagined and yet also more powerful, McCoy hot against him, pushing him back hard pressed to the turbo lift wall, his hands gripping Pavel's arms now. Pavel lets his hands grip at the doctor's back. His mouth opens against McCoy's, a few moments of blind exploration, hot and wet and red and confused, and then they find a rhythm, tongue against tongue.

Pavel is disappointed that he has to pull away to breathe.

"Dr. McCoy?" he asks.

"Ensign Chekov?" McCoy answers, gently mocking.

"I have a question."

"Only one?"

"Yes. Vhy did you vait so long to do zis?"

The smile tugging at the corner of Dr. McCoy's mouth stretches into a full grin. "Because I'm a darned fool," he says, and kisses Pavel again.

end


End file.
